


Brave

by onekisstotakewithme



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Episode: s03e07 The Bite, F/M, First Kiss, Flash Fiction, Minor Episode Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-21
Updated: 2019-07-21
Packaged: 2020-07-10 02:33:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19898431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/onekisstotakewithme/pseuds/onekisstotakewithme
Summary: he wanted her to feel safe, and this is the opposite of safe





	Brave

**Author's Note:**

  * For [daylight_angel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/daylight_angel/gifts).



Hopper’s head is spinning when they stumble down the steps of the carnival ride, and he’s not sure if it’s the ride, the numerous beatings he’s taken in the past few days, or the fact that he and Joyce held hands the entire ride, and if not for the fear that something very fucked-up is going to happen, he’d be on cloud nine right now, because despite the danger, despite everything, holding hands at the carnival is the blissful kind of normal he wants to be able to offer her.

“Jim… Jim.  _ Jim! _ ”

He and Joyce both turn, letting go of each other, and Murray is there, frantically waving his arms and shouting hoarsely to be heard over the carnival music. 

“ _ They got Alexei!  _ Jim! Jim! Alexei, they got Alexei, Jim!”

It doesn’t hit him, not yet, but he can hear the devastation in Murray’s voice and the hair on the back of his neck is standing up, and he turns, only to see the fucking terminator himself walking towards them, and it takes all his instinct not to shove Joyce behind him. 

“We gotta go,” he says, not looking at Joyce. “ _ We gotta go _ .”

“What?” she asks, but doesn’t hesitate as she grabs his hand, the two of them already running.

“Let’s go!” he says breathlessly, and he knows he’s practically dragging her along, but he still has the bruises from his own encounters with the Russian, and if he can help it, that son of a bitch won’t get anywhere near Joyce.

Hopper needs to keep her safe, he wanted her to  _ feel safe _ , and this is the opposite of safe. 

They duck through one of the carnival games, his legs aching, his lungs bursting inside his chest, but they’re almost home free.

He drops her hand, whirling both of them around, and starts reaching for his keys, because he can see one of the terminator’s goons heading towards them. “Find Murray, get the car… bring it around back,” he says, and he doesn’t look at her, he can’t bring himself to look at her as he presses the keys into her hand.

“Okay,” she says. “Hopper?”

He spares a glance in her direction, and she takes a deep breath, clearly steeling herself for something. 

And then, standing on her toes, she grabs the collar of his shirt, and bruises his mouth with a firm but gentle kiss. 

“Stay safe,” she tells him when she pulls away, and she’s lit up by the glow of the carnival lights for just a second, and then she’s gone.

And then he remembers himself, and takes off, his heart pounding.

He doesn’t have time to think of how brave she is (how brave she’s always been, idiot), but he does have time to take care of their Russian friends so that she and Murray can get away.

And maybe if he survives the night, he can ask exactly what she meant by that kiss.

  
  



End file.
